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'Harmony Korine' (born January 4 1973) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and author.
He is best known for the screenplay ''Kids'' and for directing the movies ''Gummo'' and ''Julien Donkey-Boy''. He has been a seminal figure in independent film, music and art throughout the past decade.
Early life
Korine was born in Bolinas, California and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of documentary filmmaker Sol Korine. He spent his early years in Nashville, TN, before moving to New York City to live with his grandmother. A solitary teenager, Korine frequented revival theaters, watching classic films by John Cassavetes, Werner Herzog, Jean-Luc Godard, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Alan Clarke. He studied Dramatic Writing at The Tisch School of the Arts at New York University for one semester before dropping out to pursue a career as a professional tapdancer. Korine was skating with friends in Washington Square Park when he caught the eye of photographer Larry Clark. Korine showed Clark a screenplay he had written about a teenager whose father takes him to a prostitute. Impressed, the photographer asked him to compose a script about his everyday life. Within three weeks, Korine wrote Kids, a film about 24 hours in the sex- and drug-filled lives of several Manhattan teenagers.[1]
Films
Kids & Gummo (1995-1998)
''Kids''
Korine first gained notoriety in 1995, at the age of 21, for the film ''Kids'', which examines the lives of several New York City teenagers who are coming of age in the era of AIDS. ''Kids'' garnered good reviews, but due to its NC-17/unrated rating, few of its intended audience actually saw the film upon its debut. However, it has since become a significant cult film. Among others, the film features Chloë Sevigny and Rosario Dawson in their first movie roles.
Following his fame with ''Kids'', Korine directed and co-produced ''Gummo'' (1997), a film based on life in Xenia, Ohio, a town devastated by a tornado on April 3, 1974. Forgoing conventional narrative, ''Gummo'' embodies sketches written by Korine, hence the nonlinear, fragmented events over the course of the film capitalizing on the obscure. Much of the cast was found during preproduction where it was filmed in Tennessee, and of all those who appeared in the film, only five were experienced actors/actresses. The film is notable for having unsettling, often bizarre scenes, as well as its dreamlike soundtrack, which strengthens the disconcerting atmosphere.
''Gummo''
Although a majority of mainstream critics derided it as an unintelligible mess, it won top prizes at that year's Venice Film Festival and earned Korine the respect of noted filmmakers such as Gus Van Sant, among others. Its stature has only grown in the ensuing years, gaining a cult classic status as a truly shocking and experimental film "unlike anything you've seen in a while -- maybe ever -- and that if you're the kind of person who claims to be frustrated by the predictability of commercial filmmaking, [it presents] a rare opportunity to put your money where your mouth is."[3]
In 1998, Korine made ''The Diary of Anne Frank Part II'', a 40-minute three-screen collage featuring a boy burying his dog, kids in satanic dress tearing apart and vomiting on a Bible, and a man in black-and-white minstrelsy make-up dancing and singing "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean". It utilizes some of the same actors and themes as ''Gummo'', and can be considered a companion piece. The film "further disgusted critics"[1] and solidified his status as a notoriously shocking and experimental director.
Julien Donkey-Boy & Ken Park (1999-2003)
He originally intended to follow up ''Gummo'' with a short-lived project known as ''Fight Harm'', directed by illusionist David Blaine. It comprised footage of Korine engaging random people in actual street fights. In these he followed rules of always provoking the fight and continuing until threat of death. Korine, who often said he would die for the cinema, hoped to make a cross between a Buster Keaton vehicle and a snuff film, but after only six fights, he was hospitalized and forced to abandon the project. [1]
Instead, Korine decided to make a film based on the experiences of his schizophrenic uncle. ''Julien Donkey-Boy'', released in 1999, included a signed Dogme 95 manifesto. While it broke a number of the movement's basic tenets, Lars Von Trier himself lauded Korine's ability to interpret the rules creatively.
The story is told from the perspective of a young man suffering from schizophrenia, played by Ewen Bremner of ''Trainspotting'' fame, as he tries to understand his deteriorating world. Julien's abusive father is played by Werner Herzog. At one point, Korine was to play the son, but he backed down and was replaced by Evan Neumann.
Like ''Gummo'' and ''Kids'', it too has since become something of a cult classic, a go-to film for those seeking cinema that is, as Roger Ebert said in his three star review, "shocking for most moviegoers", unlike "the slick aboveground indie productions" that are now the norm. [6]
In 2002, Larry Clark made the film ''Ken Park'', based on a script Korine had written several years earlier. The film, another adult tale of youth gone awry, was not distributed in the US and was banned in Australia due to unsimulated scenes of sexual intercourse involving teens (played by actors who were 18 or over). At the time of its release, Clark and Korine had long since parted ways and Korine had no involvement in its production.
In 2003 he made the television documentary film ''Above the Below'' about his friend and collaborator David Blaine and his 44-day stunt in a park over the bank of River Thames in London inside a suspended Plexiglas box. A documentary commissioned by Sky Television and Channel 4, it also includes jokes, visual poetry, and music. In addition to the documentary, Korine has worked with Blaine on a number of Blaine's specials. Blaine also appears in Korine's next movie, ''Mister Lonely'', as a Panamanian priest.
Mister Lonely (2003-)
His third feature film, ''Mister Lonely'', began production in 2006, starring Diego Luna, Samantha Morton, Denis Lavant, Anita Pallenberg, David Blaine, Werner Herzog and Mal Whiteley. The film is co-written by his brother, Avi Korine.
''Mister Lonely''
The story, according to the Korines, is of "a young American man lost in Paris. He scratches out a living as a Michael Jackson look-alike, dancing in the streets, in public parks, at tourist spots and trade shows. Different from everyone else, he feels as if he's floating between two worlds. During a car show Michael Jackson meets Marilyn Monroe. Haunted by her angelic beauty he follows her to a commune in the Highlands, joining her husband Charlie Chaplin and her daughter Shirley Temple. The commune is a place where everyone is famous and no-one gets old. Here, The Pope, The Queen of England, Madonna, James Dean and other impersonators build a stage in the hope that the world will visit and watch them perform. Nuns fall out of airplanes and children ride pigs. Everything is beautiful. Until the world shifts, and reality intrudes on their utopian dream."[10]
The Screen International interview describes specifically "scenes being shot in an old people's home in the Ville de Bonnueil, an hour outside Paris, and the next day in the Luxembourg Gardens and Montparnasse," that "show typical Korine improvisational touches." It goes on to say: "In the retirement villa, where 'Michael' first meets 'Marilyn', Luna is dressed as a Dangerous-era Jackson, delivering some trademark whoops around some seriously aged Parisian senior citizens, singing, "You're never gonna die, I want you to live forever," as the residents fall asleep in their chairs. Morton proceeds to comfort a nonagenarian non-actor who appears to be hitting himself with a plastic hammer." [7]
The movie finished production in early 2007 and debuted at Cannes. [12]
Other works
Books
In 1998 Korine published a book entitled ''A Crack Up at the Race Riots''.
2002 saw the release of ''Pass the Bitch Chicken'', a collaboration with artist Christopher Wool. The book consists of Korine's photographs heavily edited by Korine and Wool.
Art
He has also been involved with a number of major art projects, including "The Devil, The Sinner and His Journey", which featured Korine in blackface as O.J. Simpson and the actor Johnny Depp as Kato Kaelin. Much of his art is photography or video related to his films.
In particular, ''Gummo'' seems to have been the basis for much of his late-nineties artistic output. Most recently his works were presented in a 2003 exhibition at agnes b's Galerie du jour in Paris, with whom Korine has often been associated.
Music
Korine has directed a number of music videos for artists such as Sonic Youth, Cat Power and Will Oldham. In addition, he sang on Oldham's "Ease Down The Road", and co-authored the lyrics of Björk's musical composition "Harm of Will" from her album ''Vespertine'' (2001). In 1999 Korine and Brian Degraw of Gang Gang Dance released a music CD ''SSAB Songs''. "I don't really know what it sounds like," Korine explained to i-D magazine. "I only listened to it once. I think it's the kind of album I'd only listen to once".
Themes and influence
Much of Korine's work is based around the dark humor and absurdism involved in dysfunctional childhoods, mental disorders, and poverty.[13] This is often incorporated into surrealist, non-linear forms and presented experimentally (see the mix of Polaroids, Super 8 and high definition film that makes up ''Gummo'').
Another major theme is of the 19th century American blackface minstrel show, as seen in his "No More Workhorse Blues" music video and a number of his short films. Most enigmatically he mentioned in a 1995 Letterman appearance that he was working on a biopic of a one-legged Olympic swimmer resembling Stepin Fetchit.[14]
Though mainstream success has eluded Korine he has gained a significant cult following. Despite the scorn of a majority of mainstream reviewers, he has won festival prizes at Venice and Rotterdam, among others, and established directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci and Gus Van Sant are outspoken proponents of Korine's genius. A significant number of scholarly essays have been written on the importance of his oeuvre to film and art in general.[15]
As critic Roger Ebert said in his review of ''Julien Donkey-Boy'', "Korine, who at 25 is one of the most untamed new directors, belongs on the list with Godard, Cassavetes, Herzog, Warhol, Tarkovsky, Brakhage and others who smash conventional movies and reassemble the pieces... Harmony Korine is the real thing, an innovative and gifted filmmaker whose work forces us to see on his terms."[6]
In a 1999 Dazed and Confused magazine article Korine listed his top ten films as: ''Pixote'' by Hector Babenco, ''Badlands'' and ''Days of Heaven'' by Terrence Mallick, ''Fat City'' by John Huston, ''Stroszek'' by Werner Herzog, ''The Killing of a Chinese Bookie'' and ''A Woman Under the Influence'' by John Cassavetes, ''McCabe and Mrs. Miller'' by Robert Altman, ''Out of the Blue'' by Dennis Hopper and ''Hail Mary'' by Jean-Luc Godard.
Filmography as Director
Feature-length
★ ''Mister Lonely'' (2007)
★ ''Above the Below'' (2003) (documentary)
★ ''Ken Park'' (2002) (screenplay only, directed by Larry Clark)
★ ''Julien Donkey-Boy'' (1999)
★ ''Gummo'' (1997)
★ ''Kids'' (1995) (screenplay only, directed by Larry Clark)
Shorts
★ ''Fight Harm'' (2001) (unfinished film with David Blaine)
★ ''Jokes'' (2000) (unfinished anthology with Gus Van Sant)
★ ''Korine Tap'' (2000)
★ ''The Diary Of Anne Frank Part II'' (1998)
Music videos
★ Living Proof by Cat Power (2006)
★ No More Workhorse Blues by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (2004)
★ Sunday by Sonic Youth (1998)
★ Casper the Friendly Ghost by Daniel Johnston (1995)
References
1. http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:231470~T1
2.
3.
4. http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:231470~T1
5. http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:231470~T1
6.
7. http://www.harmony-korine.com/ScreenIntl.pdf
8. http://www.chloesevigny.com/news_page5.html
9. http://www.harmony-korine.com/paper/int/sevigny/thorn.html
10.
11. http://www.harmony-korine.com/ScreenIntl.pdf
12. http://european-films.net/content/view/642/107/
13.
14.
15.
16.
External links
★
★ Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database
Video
★ Harmony Korine (DVblog)
★ deleted scene from Julien Donkey-Boy (Google Video)
★ deleted scene 2 from Julien Donkey-Boy (Google Video)
★ The Name of this Film is Dogme 95 - Saul Metzstein (Google Video)
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